Moisture-applying device



Sept. 26, 1939. J w, LE 2,174,393

MOI STURE APPLYING DIWIOI'I Filed Sept. 10, 1936 INVENTOR; 114/. .Sfee/cATTORNEY Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEMOISTURE-APPLYING DEVICE James W. Steele, Kansas City, Mo. ApplicationSeptember 10, 1936, Serial No. 100,150 6 Claims. (01. 68-221 The presentinvention relates to moistening devices, such as are used by ironers inlaundry operations, and the primary object in View is to devise animproved appliance adapted for emcient and convenient use by laundryworkers for moistening garments in such operations as shirtfinishing andthe like.

Accordingly the invention comprises an improveddevice whereby the ironermay convenlo iently dampen a spot, or a more or less extended area ofthe garment, without wetting the hands or any interruption of the workof ironing or finishing of the garment.

It is further sought to provide a device whereby the amount of dampeningor moistening may be readily regulated, and the use of-which may also beconfined to that particular spot or area to be dampened, for whichpurpose the device is so constructed as to provide a guard againstmoistening other parts of the garment with which it may come in contact.

It is another'object of the invention to provide a device of thischaracter which may be either self-contained as regards maintaining itsown supply of the moistening liquid, or may include an accessory vesselof an improved form for supplying such moistening liquid in an emcientmanner as regards supplying the proper amount of liquid for moisteningpurposes.

It is also sought to provide a construction of a simple and inexpensivecharacter, which may be readily and economically constructed, and inwhich the parts that require renewal from time to time may be furnishedat small cost.

With the foregoing general objects in view, the invention will now bedescribed by reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating forms ofconstruction suitable for carrying out the aforesaid objects, afterwhich those features and combinations deemed to be novel and patentablewill the several parts making up the head or pad structure of themoistening device;

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a modified form of construction;and

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view, representing a section taken on theline 8-8 of Figure 7.

In ironing operations, as usually carried out by the ironer in finishinga garment, such as a shirt or similar garment, the operator dips asponge or cloth in a pan of water, squeezes out the surplus water, andthen rubs the cloth or sponge over the spot or portion of the garment tobe ironed. Some of the obvious objections to such a procedure are theloss of time in wetting m the sponge or cloth, and regulating the amountof moisture it carries, as well as the difliculty of regulating itproperly; also the physical inconvenience of handling such wet spongesor cloths, the time lost in squeezing out excess water, and w wiping themoisture from the hand after such operations, and frequently theoperators hand is cramped and stiffened from handling a hot iron withwhat moisture is left on the hand. Some have tried to overcome theseobjections by using 20 a spray gun, but this has proved too expensive onaccount of the construction and also the necessity of providing pipingfor the fluid to the points of operation. Again, such spray operationsalso have the same objection as the old 25 methods always used, viz.,the difliculty of regulating the amount of water applied to the garmentand the allocation of such moisture as desired to the particular pointsto be dampened.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 6 of the drawing, 0 illustrating thepreferred form of construction for embodying my proposed improvements,these views, show the device as comprising a duplex form of head or padmember carried by a handle member I0, to which the moistening pad 5structure isattached by a suitable screw device l2. This pad structuremay conveniently be made up of a pair of duplicate plates l4 formed withlongitudinal guard flanges l6 and also with a plurality of spacingbosses l8 (see Figures 4 0 and 6). These plates (which should be ofnoncorrosive material) are for the purposeof clamping between them a webof suitable wicking ma terial 20 of such length as to be folded uponitself as shown in Figures 1 and 5 and also for 'enclosmg short sectionsof suitable moisture-retaining material such as felt or the like, thusforming moisture applicators or pads 23 in head or roll form along theguard flanges l6, when the parts are assembled as illustrated in Figure1.

The plates H are centrally perforated as indicated at H for the screwl2, for which an opening 20' is also provided in the web 20, and thescrew may be formed with an elongated head l2 (Figure 3) to limit itsturning movement when assembling and securing the parts to the handlell.

The spacing bosses l8 serve to prevent the plates I I from clamping thewicking material too tightly-which would tend to restrict the capillaryflow of the liquid through said material. The guard elements 16 performa protecting function, for preventing moistening contact of the pads 23against projecting portions of the garment (such as a collar) which itmay be preferred not to dampen by the operation of the device. They alsoenable the operator, by suitable pressure applied through the handle, toexpress extra moisture from the pads, as required for the dampeningoperation.

For maintaining a suitable supply of liquid (such as water) for theappliance, I provide a shallow vessel 25 of appropriate size, which maybe supported upon the ironing table surface or in a bracket of the typenow ordinarily attached to such tables. Preferably the vessel 25 isprovided with a flanged false bottom plate 26, suitably perforated asindicated at 26', and also supported on a moderately weak spring 26.This false bottom member is to protect the moistening pads from silt orforeign matter collecting in the bottom of the vessel; and the spring 28serves to support the pad device normally above the liquid level (asindicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1), while permitting the deviceto be depressed or dipped below said level (as represented by the fulllines in said view) when sufficient pressure is applied to the handleill by the operator.

The vessel 25 may also be formed with a sloping flange 30 around itsupper edge, and this flange may also be formed with suitable recesses 3|adapted for use in wiping the pads 23 to remove excess moisture-by awiping engagement through said recesses.

A modified form of the appliance is shown in Figures 7 and 8, where thedevice is illustrated as comprising a handle member connected with aframe 36 which provides a cross-bar 31 for the moistening material 36which is simply wound around the bar 3|,thus resulting in a roll form ofpad similar to the pads 23. To retain the material 38 in this woundstate, a bail member 40 is pivoted at ll to the sides of the frame 36,with the intermediate portion of the bail resting against the roll ofmaterial 38; and this intermediate portion of the bail also carries aguard element (of non-corrosive material) projecting alongside the roll38 and serving the same purpose as the guard elements l6 in thepreferred form of construction.

The sides of the frame 36 are also formed with bosses or lugs 44 toserve as supports when the appliance is rested upon the table,said lugsbeing of a size suflicient to support the roll 38 of moistening materialout of engagement with the surface upon which the device is resting.

In this form of the appliance, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, provision isalso made for supplying the moistening fluid through the handle andframe, which are shown as provided with a duct or channel 46 for feedingsuch fluid to a row of orifices 46 in the under side of the cross-bar 31(see Figure 8). Any appropriate connection may be made to the handle,either in the form of a hose, bulb or other well-known type offluid-supply means, for maintaining a proper supply of the liquid formoistening purposes, as will be readily understood. Obviously, ifdesired, this same method of feeding the liquid to the pad structuremight be embodied in the form of construction illustrated in Figures 1and 2 in lieu of the vessel means there shown.

In the use of the improved appliance, and referring to Figures 1-2, theoperator wets the rolls "or pads 23 by placing same in the vessel anddipping into the liquid,which is accomplished by hearing down withsuflicient pressure upon the false bottom 26 to submerge the lower pad23 in said liquid. If desired, the pad may be allowed to drain for amoment on said false bottom' 26, and thereafter any excess moistureremaining may be removed by wiping the pad through one of the recesses 3l in the top flange 30. The operator now gives the device a half-tum soas to bring the clipped pad up over the other pad 23,whereupon, inaddition to the moisture already drawn by capillary attraction to thelower pad, additional moisture will flow by gravity from the upper tothe lower pad to replenish the supply of moisture needed by the latterin the use of the device. In this use, the operator is enabled to makesuch selective application of the moisture as may be required, either toa small spot by simply touching one end of the pad to the spot on thegarment to be dampened, or to a larger area by drawing the pad eitherstraight across, or at an angle, as may be judged necessary to coverthat area. If in such movement the device is manipulated adjacent to araised portion of the garment (such as the collar or neckband of ashirt), the guard feature l6 protects that portion from coming incontact with the wet pad, and the operator is saved from slowing up thespeed of operation in the effort to avoid dampening those parts of thegarment.

This same guarding or protecting feature, and its advantage, alsocharacterizes the use of the form of the device shown in Figures 7-8.

It is therefore seen that the improvied device is capable of use with aminimum of labor and lost motion on the part of the operator, ascompared with prior devices, since no extra movements (such as squeezingof a rag or sponge) are required for removal of excess water,--thisbeing accomplished by mere drainage and by capillary flow from one padto the other; and any use of the recesses in flange 30 is by asimultaneous movement as the device is removed from the vessel.Obviously also the objection as to getting the operators hands wet isentirely overcome, since the hand never comes in contact with anyportion of the pad structure. The nature of the pad constructionmoreover enables the dampening opera tion to be carried out not onlywith great facility but with all the necessary accuracy as regardswetting only those portions of the garment to which the moisture shouldbe applied, and with the greatest dispatch. In this connection it isalso to be noted that the improved device may be readily operated by onehand while the ironing operation is continued without any interruptionby means of the other hand.

It is to be further noted that in either form of construction theoperator is enabled, by suitable pressure so exerted as to cause the padroll to be compressed (either by the guard flanges l6 or by the bailportion 31), to produce additional moistening effect by the squeezingaction thus exerted upon the pad structure.

It will therefore be apparent that I have devised a practical andeflicient appliance for the carrying out of the aforesaid objects of myinvention; and while I have shown and described what I have a,174,sos

found to represent satisfactory forms of embodiment of the improvedconstruction, it is of course evident that various equivalent types ofconstruction may be employed for accomplishing my purpose insubstantially the same manner. I therefore desire to reserve the rightto make whatever changes or modifications may be deemed to fairly fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A laundry moistening device comprising, a handle member, amoisture-applying pad structure carried by said handle member andcomprising a pad element exposed for moisture-applying purposes, and arigid projection adjacent to said pad element and operable by pressurefrom the handle member to compress the pad element and thereby increasethe flow of moisture therefrom.

2. A laundry moistening device comprising, a handle member, amoisture-applying pad structure carried by said handle member andcomprising a pad element exposed for moisture-applying purposes, and aguard extending alongside said pad element to shield the latter againstcontact with raised portions or the surface being moistened.

3, A laundry moistening device comprising, a handle member, amoisture-applying pad structure carried by said handle member andcomprising a pad element exposed for moisture-applying purposes, and arigid projection adjacent to said pad element and operable by pressurefrom the handle member to compress the pad element and thereby increasethe ilow of moisture therefrom, said projection also extending inposition to shield said pad element against contact with raised portionsof the suriace being subjected to the moistening treatment,

4. A moisture-applying device comprising a handle member, amoisture-applying pad structure carried by said handle member andcomprising a pad element exposed for moisture-applying purposes, a guardextending alongside said pad element to shield the latter againstcontact with raised portions of the surface being moistened, and meansintermediate said handle and said pad element for maintaining the latterout of contact with a supporting surface when the device is resting idlythereon.

5. A moistening device comprising, a handle member, and amoisture-applying pad structure carried by said handle member andcomprising a pair of pad elements connected by wicking material fortransmitting moisture from either pad element to the other, and a pairof plates clamping said material between said pad elements and providedwith means for securing said plates to the handle member, said platesbeing formed with flanges extending alongside said pad elements andserving as means for compressing said elements to increase the flow oi.moisture therefrom and also as guards for shielding said elementsagainst contact with raised portions of the surface being subjected tomoistening treatment.

6. A laundry moistening device comprising, a handle member, a pair oi.clamping plates carried by one end of said handle member, amoistureapplying pad structure comprising a web of wicking materialenclosing quantities of moistureretaining material to form applicatorrolls extending longitudinally along opposite edges of said plates withthe axes 01' said rolls parallel to said edges, and means for securingsaid plates to the handle member and in clamping engagement with theintermediate portion of said wlcking material between said rolls.

JA S W. T E.

